Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

whatwillthishelp wrote:

 

so I would have to endure four failed logicboards within three months each - a whole year - in order to qualify for a replacement, in what world does this make sense? and why would they replace it with the same kind of logicboard which they know is prone to failure? how does any part of this experience, whatever the outcome, constitute a 'success', and don't get me started on retina, I paid extra money for a proper - matte - screen, which is now the best feature of my otherwise comatose MBP.

No no my friend, 1 year is just the maximum time you would have.  Usually if the board is faulty, it will fail within 1 week of stress testing the machine after you get it back from the repair depot, sometimes even 6 hours with GPU Test.  Then you just take it back, get it repaired, and the new repair will probably break down within a week too. The problem here (that I think I am facing) is that if it was a solid reflow apply did, that can mean that my machine probably won't fail until 7 months later, well out of the 3 month repair warranty.

anonymous25787 wrote:

 

So my problem is,

 

I will grab my macbook from the AASP tomorrow. This is the 3rd repair It will have (so the 4th motherboard);

The first repair was 4 month after I bought it,

Second was 3 years exactly after i bought it,

4 month after, it crashed again.

 

At this point, this will be my last repair before a change. I know for sure that the computer has the left "cmd" key not working. It was before the 2nd crash of the computer, last summer. This might be due to a liquid damage, but I can't be sure of it, and the AASP didn't notice it anyway, and I havent told him. The 2 repair have been done with this "cmd" key not working.

 

My question is :

- Is the replacement policy only granted after the same problem (in this case the motherboard) happening 4th time? or can it be on another part of the computer ?

- Should I directly call Apple tomorrow and tell them the key is not working AFTER the repair ? Would this make me eligible for a warranty ?

- How can I be sure they won't put the liquid damage on me ? Should I try the computer in front of the AASP ?

 

Thanks in advance.

Did you have Apple care?  Have you paid Apple $300 for any repairs?  I think if it breaks down the 4th time, I think you should bring to light when you talk to an Apple rep that this issue is reoccuring and you can't afford to have this problem reoccur.

<Link Edited by Host>

Csound1 wrote:

 

Read the info I provided at the link, it's not a secret.

 

Look

With Google's help I have read every sentence that contains the word "Apple" on the site you mentioned. This statement from your earlier post does not occur:  "LiIon batteries should NOT be discharged to low levels, Apple recommend no less than 20%". Apple do not appear to mention this here, either: https://www.apple.com/batteries/. Hence I ask again that you cite your source for your statement.

Hitman4000 wrote:

 

I understand you want it to run cool, but the constant charging/discharging of any battery wears it's amperage levels down considerably.  You can start with a 8000mAh battery and in a short 2 years, it might only be able to hold 4000mAh.  But it is good you discharge the battery completely.  Not frequently I hope, but any lithium ion battery, whether cellphone or laptop, needs to be discharged COMPLETELY at least once every 2 weeks so as to keep accurate battery levels and prolong life.

 

If your battery still runs hot while charging, I recommend you switch out the adapter.  You are either using a 13" macbook charger (60w) on your 15" or something is wrong with your charger because it seems like it is constantly charging.  However, it is true that in general it runs hotter when plugged in.  HOWEVER, that is because there is less energy saver actions happening, aka your laptop will run faster plugged in.  If you want a sure-fire way to cool down your laptop, why not use something that dissapates heat the same way a macbook pro was designed?  And that is material heat transfer.  Since the aluminum body of a macbook pro acts as a heat sink, go on Amazon and buy 2 of Targus Heat Defense pads.  Inside are crystals that basically suck the heat out of the material through contact, and the crystals melt into gel when they have reached their melting point.  Just swap out the pads when needed.  I'm surprised more of you don't know about this cooling pad.  It's passive, meaning no extra fan noise and it works way better than forced air induction onto your hot aluminum laptop.

"Amperage" means current. I think you mean "charge" as mAh = current x time = charge. Apple's information here suggests that the loss in capacity is not a function of the how depleted it is when you charge it, just how much charge it has received (ie: a cycle = a certain number of Coulombs): https://www.apple.com/batteries/why-lithium-ion/. They say nothing about needing to calibrate your battery every two weeks. I do think I may have misunderstood about waiting until my battery is essentially flat before charging it, but my 3.5 year experiment has yielded much better observed battery life than I had before. I still have 60% health after 1,598 cycles.

I will continue to unplug the power as soon as the battery is charged though as the machine does run hotter. It is not the wrong power supply: I have 3 dotted around the country that I use, two of which came with MacBook Pros. It is not a faulty battery. The second law of thermodynamics demands that the battery will get hot when charging. The laptop runs hotter once the battery is charged, although I am not sure why it should – so will check that observation is correct. My Energy Saver settings are the same for battery and power supply as I work half the time on battery. The battery is not constantly charging.

In terms of cooling, why would I need to buy anything extra? My laptop charges, I unplug it. It is cooler.

The GPU failure is now happening at least once a day, hot or cold. Opening QuickTime did it just now, so I've downloaded gfxCardStatus to disable the discrete GPU for now. Off to the Apple Service Provider next week to see what AppleCare comes up with…

Rich Walsh wrote:

 

Hitman4000 wrote:

 

I understand you want it to run cool, but the constant charging/discharging of any battery wears it's amperage levels down considerably.  You can start with a 8000mAh battery and in a short 2 years, it might only be able to hold 4000mAh.  But it is good you discharge the battery completely.  Not frequently I hope, but any lithium ion battery, whether cellphone or laptop, needs to be discharged COMPLETELY at least once every 2 weeks so as to keep accurate battery levels and prolong life.

 

If your battery still runs hot while charging, I recommend you switch out the adapter.  You are either using a 13" macbook charger (60w) on your 15" or something is wrong with your charger because it seems like it is constantly charging.  However, it is true that in general it runs hotter when plugged in.  HOWEVER, that is because there is less energy saver actions happening, aka your laptop will run faster plugged in.  If you want a sure-fire way to cool down your laptop, why not use something that dissapates heat the same way a macbook pro was designed?  And that is material heat transfer.  Since the aluminum body of a macbook pro acts as a heat sink, go on Amazon and buy 2 of Targus Heat Defense pads.  Inside are crystals that basically suck the heat out of the material through contact, and the crystals melt into gel when they have reached their melting point.  Just swap out the pads when needed.  I'm surprised more of you don't know about this cooling pad.  It's passive, meaning no extra fan noise and it works way better than forced air induction onto your hot aluminum laptop.

"Amperage" means current. I think you mean "charge" as mAh = current x time = charge. Apple's information here suggests that the loss in capacity is not a function of the how depleted it is when you charge it, just how much charge it has received (ie: a cycle = a certain number of Coulombs): https://www.apple.com/batteries/why-lithium-ion/. They say nothing about needing to calibrate your battery every two weeks. I do think I may have misunderstood about waiting until my battery is essentially flat before charging it, but my 3.5 year experiment has yielded much better observed battery life than I had before. I still have 60% health after 1,598 cycles.

 

I will continue to unplug the power as soon as the battery is charged though as the machine does run hotter. It is not the wrong power supply: I have 3 dotted around the country that I use, two of which came with MacBook Pros. It is not a faulty battery. The second law of thermodynamics demands that the battery will get hot when charging. The laptop runs hotter once the battery is charged, although I am not sure why it should – so will check that observation is correct. My Energy Saver settings are the same for battery and power supply as I work half the time on battery. The battery is not constantly charging.

 

In terms of cooling, why would I need to buy anything extra? My laptop charges, I unplug it. It is cooler.

 

The GPU failure is now happening at least once a day, hot or cold. Opening QuickTime did it just now, so I've downloaded gfxCardStatus to disable the discrete GPU for now. Off to the Apple Service Provider next week to see what AppleCare comes up with…

Thanks for the reply.  I'm just trying to help you prolong your battery even more.  That is why I am curious when you say your battery still remains hot even when the battery is plugged in.  Have you tested this out with SMCFanControl?  That is also why I am confused why your laptop remains hot after the battery is fully charged (at least 10 minutes after it is charged so temps die down) because you can potentially cut down your charge/discharge ratio.  Once the battery is charged, Apple's system cuts the power from going to the battery, and essentially avoids "overcharging" like many PCs.

In regards to the cooling, I was merely suggesting something to maximum your cooling.  Sure it runs cool, but why not run it cooler?  And if you game on your laptop, well then it's a must.

Calibrate batteries? yet another old wives tale. The battery is pre-calibrated and Apple does not recommend that you change that by calibrating it wourself.

This thread is full of junk information, I suggest everyone reading it to stop, read something more sensible.

yup, this is a thing 'it' is correct about.

Very childish, are you old enough to be here?

And you just can't resist any excuse to snark back can you? instead of letting it roll off your back, turn the other cheek - adding even more off topic distraction to the thread.

Update on the Macbook Pro 2011 Failed Graphics...

So this was an update that I had posted earlier

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6797196

Today I got back the MBP from the service provider in Hyderabad. The person there was very helpful but was constantly deflecting answers to specific questions. So I asked him what was the status of the failed Logic Board, and he replied that the GPU unit had almost melted due to overheating. I asked him if apple replaces logic boards for free, and he said that yours was an exclusive case. I also asked him that this exclusive cases are happening only with MBP 2011 and he replied in the affirmative.

While I am very thankful to apple for replacing my logic board and battery free of cost, I would also urge Apple to spend that huge profit earning on reclaiming lost respect from its loyal customers. I would also urge everyone to report this problem to apple as soon as it happens. Be patient and diligent in dealing with the apple representatives. Be very polite and convince them about this issue. Show them this discussion and thread. I hope everyone's laptops get repaired or replaced free of cost.

I would also like to ask for specific tests to run to test the durability of this new logic board? Please give me suggestions

Thanks

When you add anything of value I'll note it, till then you're just more noise.

To stress the graphic card go to the System Preferences and select Energy.  At the top is a place to click something about the graphic card (I am doing this from memory using my wife's iMac because my 2011 is on the way to have its graphic chip replaced), clicking that square should turn the accelerated graphics on.  Using gfxStatusCard you will be able to see when the accelerated graphics is on.  Using a widget like iStatPro will give you the temps of the GPU and GPU Diode.  On my machine those number typically ran in the 90s when good.

Turn on the accelerated mode check the temps occasionally and see it the temps started to climb.  You will soon know if the "fix" is in or not.

are you saying that temperatures in the 90's are ok (Centigrades) ?

I didn't get back to edit fast enough....

On my machine using iStatPro I see 90s for the GPU and 40...50s for GPU diode.  All temps in Fahrenheit. 

The diode temps bother me because the ambient is about 75 most of the time.  I think the sensor is wrong because when cooling the machine with an ice pack I have seen -xxx three digit numbers when the coldest should be 34 or so.

I'm getting 90°C which is about 194°F